Last week, I traveled to the Roanoke Valley in Virginia’s Blue Ridge, an area known for the picturesque views of the Blue Ridge Mountains and more than 600 miles of trails, including the Appalachian Trail. I laced up and explored two trails, Roaring Run and McAfee Knob, and enjoyed views of gorgeous riverfront scenery, beautiful waterfalls and interesting wildlife. 

Located in Botetourt County, a scenic area steeped in history dating back to colonial America, the Roaring Run trail is a fairly easy, well-marked hike that begins at a 19th-century iron furnace on the National Register of Historic Places. We hiked along and crossed footbridges over the Roaring Run stream and enjoyed picking and eating ripe raspberries off the bushes lining the trail on our way up to the stunning Roaring Run Falls. A straightforward, out and back trail, Roaring Run is a little hike with a big payoff, offering visitors excellent views of waterfalls and a natural water slide, as well as a picnic area with charcoal grills and trout fishing.

A more difficult and strenuous hike, McAfee Knob is an 8-mile hike along the Appalachian Trail that starts at around 2,000 feet and peaks at about 3,200 feet. Known as the most-photographed site on the Appalachian Trail, it offers an almost 270-degree panorama of the Roanoke Valley to the east, the Catawba Valley and North Mountain to the west and the Tinker Cliffs to the north on a clear day.

Haze and fog settled in the area on the day my fellow hikers and I took to the trail, so we were unable to enjoy the highly acclaimed blue vistas, but we still appreciated the beauty of the hike. While climbing up, we crossed rocky terrain and streams, passed shelters with picnic tables and fire pits and saw a cool series of rock formations known as the Devil’s Kitchen before making it to the top. Once at the peak, we tried peering over the rocky outcropping to get a sense of how high we were, but we had no luck with the heavy fog. (Check out the website to view photos of the surrounding area on a clear day.) With plenty of space, we settled for a bit to relax and enjoy the peace amid the clouds before making our way down.

I hope to travel back to Virginia in the fall and hike the McAfee Knob trail again to check out views of the fall foliage and enjoy cooler weather. For more information about outdoor adventures in Virginia’s Blue Ridge, visit the website.

— Monique Barrett, advertising and editorial coordinator